Tennis News

SINGAPORE – There’s squad goals, and then there’s the WTA Legends, who were out in full force on Thursday morning to take in the incredible view from the top of the Marina Bay Sands before Day 5 action began at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

WTA Finals Ambassadors Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Monica Seles Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Iva Majoli, and Mary Pierce took to the highest peak of the world-famous hotel to pose for a series of photos at the Marina Bay Sands’ SkyPark, offering sprawling views of the city; they later enjoyed some Singapore delicacies at Spago, hosted by Chef Joshua Brown.

“We have a clear day today, so I’ve never seen this far away,” noted Navratilova to WTA Insider. “It’s an amazing, bustling city. I drove around yesterday, went shopping at the Mustafa Centre that’s open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day; it was amazing. There’s so much energy here.”

#WTA Legends were introduced to Singaporean delicacy chicken rice by Chef Joshua Brown @marinabaysands when they're in town for #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/4nP2mPkcPr

— WTA Finals Singapore (@WTAFinalsSG) October 27, 2016

Navratilova has been on hand for much of the week, looking forward to the start of the doubles event, where eight teams will compete for a trophy named in her honor.

“It’ll be interesting because Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia had the best year, but mostly because Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis stopped playing together. They had a bit of a falling-out, but they’re playing here. That dynamic between Sania and Martina, how they get along, will be crucial.

“If they can put whatever happened between them behind and play good tennis – because doubles is a team sport, and you really need to play together – I’m looking forward to that more than anything.

“At their best, Hingis and Mirza are the favorites because they have the biggest weapons and know-how, how to play the points. But Mladenovic and Garcia would be a close second favorite.”

The WTA Legends convene for a Skypark photoshoot: pic.twitter.com/PwmqfQcqSv

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 27, 2016

Evert arrived on Wednesday night, but is in familiar territory, having visited Singapore three times before.

“Oh my god, it’s beautiful!” she enthused. “The tough thing is getting here; it’s a long way from Florida – 21 hours – but once you get here, it’s breathtakingly beautiful, especially the Marina Bay Sands.”

A longtime commentator for ESPN, the 18-time Grand Slam champion tagged Angelique Kerber as her Player of the Year, and the one most likely to lift the Billie Jean King Trophy at week’s end:

“Angelique Kerber’s impressed me, winning two Grand Slams. No one’s done that in so many years besides Serena Williams, really.

“She’s been playing some really great tennis, more aggressively. She’s really stepped it up with her game. Mentally, she’s gotten tougher, and she’s looking tough here too.”

.@28dolfan #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/PXToIho17v

— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016

Navratilova echoed her old rival’s sentiments on Kerber, but gave an honorable mention to No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the first of Singapore’s semifinalists following her three-set win over Karolina Pliskova.

“It’s great to see because a couple of years ago, we all thought she was probably done, that she was going to fade away and retire. She kept coming back and, lo and behold, played some of her best tennis this year.

“It’s really good to see her out there, still fighting, still enjoying it and competing so well, emotionally, mentally, and most of all, physically.”

.@greensolo9 #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/eSFMcxjh1V

— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016

Qualifying on the last day of the regular season, Kuznetsova’s effort completed the closest Road to Singapore leaderboard in WTA history. Evert believes the photo finish presented a strong case for just how tough the tour has become.

“It just shows the depth at the top. In previous years, you’d have Serena, and then a gap between her and the other women.

“Now, there’s no gap; the Top 8 are all relevant, and are all capable of winning this WTA Finals. I’m really happy to see that the depth is finally there again at the top of the game.”

.@kvittycat53 #AskWTALegends pic.twitter.com/LuKfXceawd

— WTA (@WTA) October 27, 2016

With this season nearly in the books, Evert is already looking ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2017.

“Let’s put it this way. Victoria Azarenka is going to have a baby in December and she’s thinking about coming back; that’ll be interesting. Serena’s always interesting; can she break Stefanie Graf’s record? They’re both at 22 right now, and how much longer is Serena going to be at the top of her game? Maria Sharapova’s coming back in April or May.

“There’s going to be a lot of big stories.”

SINGAPORE – Agnieszka Radwanska’s strong return of serve was key to her win over Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-3 in the final round robin match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The victory earned Radwanska a spot in the event’s semifinals.

One of the best returners in the game, Radwanska was facing one of the best servers in the game in Friday’s match.

Through this season, Radwanska is among the Top 3 on the WTA for return points won (49%), return games won (49%) and break points converted (54%).

She was facing an opponent in Pliskova who led the WTA in aces (530) and was second for first serve points won (74%) in 2016.

The SAP Coaches View shows that it was Pliskova’s second serve that was vulnerable to Radwanska’s return, with the Pole winning 61% of those points.

The “Return of Serve” tracking with Coaches View shows that a key to Radwanska’s success was her aggressive approach in taking those Pliskova second serves. Radwanska returned 78% of Pliskova’s second serves from inside the baseline.

During the first two round robin matches of the tournament, Pliskova won 47% of second serve points, compared to 36% against Radwanska. Neither of her first two opponents, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Garbiñe Muguruza, were as aggressive as Radwanska in taking the ball early. Kuznetsova returned 57% of Pliskova’s second serves inside the baseline, while Muguruza did so just 10% of the time.

The SAP Coaches View combines scoring information direct from the chair umpire with tracking data from HawkEye to allow for an in depth look at five different aspects of a match. Each tracking option can be filtered to narrow the focus to specific situations within a match, such as break points.This information is available directly to coaches in real-time during a match on their SAP tablet and also available to them online after matches.

“Return of serve” tracking shows where each service return was struck, differentiating between first and second serves, with an emphasis on how many serves are returned from inside the baseline. This data can be filtered by a particular score.

Radwanska broke Pliskova five times in 10 games during Friday’s match, giving the defending champion a berth in the semifinals as she aims for a second straight WTA Finals title.

LONDON, England – On Saturday afternoon Serena Williams tied Steffi Graf’s long-standing Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles with victory over Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final.

To celebrate the historic feat, wtatennis.com is going to run down 22 of the more memorable numbers from a truly remarkable career…

750,000 – The amount in dollars Serena received for winning her first major, the 1999 US Open; the prize money for victory at this year’s Wimbledon was around $2,590,000

346 – It has taken Serena 346 matches to win her 22 majors; Graf won her 22nd title (1999 Roland Garros) in her 303rd match

304 – Serena has the second-most Grand Slam match wins in Open Era with 304 (Martina Navratilova 306)

83 – At all four Grand Slam tournaments, Serena has an 83% or better winning percentage: Australian Open (74-10, 88%), Roland Garros (60-12, 83%, Wimbledon 66-10, 90%), US Open (84-10, 89%)

79 – Serena has won nearly 79% of her 28 Grand Slam finals. Her only defeats came at the 2001 US Open (to Venus Williams), 2004 Wimbledon (to Maria Sharapova), 2008 Wimbledon (to Venus Williams), 2011 US Open (to Sam Stosur), 2016 Australian Open (to Kerber) and 2016 Roland Garros (to Garbiñe Muguruza). This is the second-best winning percentage in the Open Era after Court (11-1)

64 – Remarkably, Serena has won more than a third of the 64 Grand Slams that she has contested

30 – Nine of Serena’s 22 majors have come after turning 30; by winning the Wimbledon final, Williams (who is 34 years and 287 days old at the end of the tournament) also broke her own record as the oldest Open Era Grand Slam champion

22 – She has now equaled Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles and moved within touching distance of Margaret Court’s all-time leading tally of 24

20 – Since Serena lifted the 1999 US Open, 20 different women have tasted Grand Slam success

18 – The age Serena won her first Grand Slam title, at the 1999 US Open 

16 – Serena has the longest winning span between majors of any woman in the Open Era at 16 years and 10 months between 1999 US Open and 2016 Wimbledon (Chris Evert, Navratilova and Graf had 12-year spans)

14 – Of her 22 Slam final victories, 14 have come in straight sets

12 – This fortnight Serena was playing her 22nd major as the No.1 seed. She has won 12 of them

9 – Nine of Serena’s Grand Slam titles have come alongside current coach Patrick Mouratoglou

8 – Serena won eight straight Grand Slam singles finals between 2012 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon; losses on each side were 2011 US Open (Samantha Stosur) and 2016 Australian Open (Kerber)

7 – Victory over Kerber brought Serena her seventh title at Wimbledon – her most successful Grand Slam venue; she has six titles at both the Australian and US Opens, and three at Roland Garros

6 – Serena has successfully defended major titles on six occasions during her career: 2003 Wimbledon, 2010 Australian Open, 2010 Wimbledon, 2013 US Open, 2014 US Open, 2016 Wimbledon

5 – Against Top 5-seeds at Grand Slams Serena has a better record than any other player in the Open Era (minimum five matches), winning 26 and losing just four

4 – On two separate occasions in her career, Serena has held all four Slams simultaneously – 2014 US Open to 2015 Wimbledon, and 2002 Roland Garros to 2003 Australian Open

3 – Third time’s a charm: before Saturday, the only woman in tennis history who had won the third major of a year after losing in the first two finals – as Williams has now done – was Navratilova in 1987

2 – Just two of Serena’s 22 major final wins have come over left-handers (2015 Roland Garros – Lucie Safarova, 2016 Wimbledon – Kerber)

1 – Serena’s only victory at a major as an unseeded player came at the 2007 Australian Open, when she had slipped to No.81 following a series of injuries.

SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova staged a thrilling fightback to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova and take her place in the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!

In a week chock-full of dramatic moments, Cibulkova’s grandstand finish on Saturday evening will take some beating, as she hauled herself back from the brink to triumph, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

“At the end I was lying on the court and now I’m so excited. It’s my first time here playing Finals and for me it’s one of my dreams come true – it’s just incredible,” Cibulkova told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview.

“I just played my tennis. First set, she was really, really aggressive. I knew I had to change things because I needed to play my aggressive tennis. In the end I won because I was the more positive.”

Having been blown away in the first set, Cibulkova displayed typical resolve to haul herself back into the contest. As the Russian’s level dipped slightly, Cibulkova upped the intensity, earning her first break when Kuznetsova sent a routine volley long. While Cibulkova was unable to hang onto the advantage, the momentum had swung.

The set was decided on a tie-break, Cibulkova taking charge in a series of brutal rallies. A thumping drive volley brought up set point, which she converted by guiding a backhand past her forlorn opponent.

So focused on the next point, @Cibulkova asks Kader Nouni in between games, “What's the score?” #WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/1VAr3FnGfV

— WTA (@WTA) October 29, 2016

Kuznetsova was not done, though, and when she produced a sublime lob to move 4-2 ahead in the third set the match appeared hers for the taking. Somehow Cibulkova roused herself for one final push, reeling off the next three games amidst a stream of winners.

Three more brought her to match point. Kuznetsova looked to have escaped when she dragged her opponent to the outer limits of the arena, only to be bamboozled when the reply flicked off the tape and beyond her reach.

Cibulkova, who is making her debut at the year-end Finals and only won one of her three round-robin matches, will now face World No.1 Angelique Kerber or defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska for the title.